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Saturday, February 2, 2008

I found an article by Alec Baldwin on HuffPost where he discussed the reception of Barack Obama by small town America. In the piece are images from the so-called satirical article found in The Independent that niggerized and ghettoized Barack and Michelle Obama. It also indirectly (maybe directly) slighted Hillary Clinton along the lines of sexism ("Bitch-slap that ho") and slighted John Edwards along the lines of homophobia ("I might consider bitch-slapping him, as he is somewhat of a Pretty Boy if you get my jist"). Good thing I wasn't the only one disturbed by this piece of shit "satire."

A whole week later, The Independent has offered two apologies:

From the editor

AN APOLOGY

By Rick Murphy

INDY EDITOR, RICK MURPHY, DEEPLY REGRETS TWO MOST RECENT INDEPENDENT COLUMNS.IN OUR LAST TWO ISSUES OF THE INDEPENDENT, TWO COLUMNS OSTENSIBLY "WRITTEN" BY HILLARY CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA WERE PUBLISHED. THEY WERE IN INCREDIBLY BAD TASTE AND OFFENSIVE TO A LOT OF PEOPLE.I WROTE THEM. NO ONE ELSE AT THIS NEWSPAPER IS TO BLAME. IT'S EASY TO VILIFY EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH THIS NEWSPAPER, TO PLACE SOME BLAME ON EVERYONE. THAT'S NOT THE CASE. JERRY DELLA FEMINA, OUR MAJORITY OWNER, RUNS AN ADVERTISING FIRM IN MANHATTAN. HE NEVER SEES OUR PAPER BEFORE IT COMES OUT. HE HAS NO IDEA WHAT WILL BE IN IT. HE OWNS IT. I'M THE EDITOR.THE BUCK STOPS HERE.POURING OVER ALL THE REASONS WHY I THOUGHT THE ATTEMPTS AT PARODIES I WROTE WERE APPROPRIATE FOR PUBLICATION IS A MEANINGLESS EXERCISE. THEY WEREN'T APPROPRIATE. THEY WEREN'T FOR THE SIMPLE REASON THEY HURT PEOPLE, AND IF A HUMOR COLUMN IS HURTING A READER THAN THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF ELICITING LAUGHTER HAS GONE HORRIBLY AWRY. (Source)

From the writer

There's No Excuse

By Jerry Della Femina

There's no excuse. I've written and rewritten the lead for this column a dozen times. It all comes down to three words. There's no excuse.I've received hundreds of letters blasting Rick Murphy's frankly vile columns on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.One of them, from Dr. William A. Schutt, Jr., an Associate Professor of Biology at C.W. Post College, summed it up best. Dr. Schutt wrote:Please tell me that this was all some sort of joke gone awry. Maybe the staff at the The Independent was trying for some sort of "East End Paper Pays Homage to the National Lampoon of the 1970's" thing. As I'm sure you're aware, back then, writers like P.J. O'Rourke and Doug Kenney often relied on racist and misogynistic humor - and some of us actually found this stuff pretty damn funny (I think mainly because the writers were genuinely talented, and their editor, Michael O' Donoghue, never left any room for doubt that what we were reading was meant to be laughed at - not taken seriously). Unfortunately your editor, Mr. Murphy, and his writing staff (e.g., Karen Fredericks), have demonstrated none of the above-mentioned talent. In fact, they are scaring the living &^%$ out of me (and I'll bet I'm not alone here). Because if this wasn't just impossibly bad writing, if Mr. Murphy and his writers actually believe the garbage they've have strewn across the pages of The Independent, then I think you have a serious, serious problem. In conclusion, I look forward to your prompt attention to this matter and an absolutely clear explanation of what is going on here. Bill Schut

Like a lot of people, I get pissed when I read something offensive and then do nothing about it. I'm gonna try my best to start challenging the media and their sponsors whenever I hear or see something offensive. Not everything needs a demonstration outside of a corporate office or someone's home. Sometimes the best challenge is to hit them where it hurts and contact their sponsors. Your money should not pay for anything that you find a offensive and plain filthy.